Doing research is not a good way to get instant gratification for what you are doing. It’s an arduous process that involves collecting and interpreting data in search for answers to specific questions. This can be a very lengthy process that involves checking, re-checking and starting all over again. It can be frustrating, demoralizing, and … Continue reading Some recent research successes

I'm very happy to report that my first co-authored paper that includes work I've done since starting my current postdoc position has been published. It is astrochemistry-oriented and is entitled "Photoionization and dissociative photoionization of propynal in the gas phase: Theory and experiment". In short we used the SAPHIRS endstation at the DESIRS beamline at … Continue reading First SOLEIL paper (finally) published

As an eleven year old boy I started to watch horror films. Whether this had a negative influence on my psyche remains to be seen but this was really the consequence of circumstance rather than poor parenting on my folks’ behalf. It was just a really bad coincidence that the first horror film I (inadvertently) … Continue reading The Science of Paul Anderson’s Event Horizon – The Science of Our Fear

Science fiction and fantasy alike are ripe with imaginary elements made up to capture the imagination of any viewer/reader/player ensconced in the fictional Universe at hand. Some of these can be clever, funny and even thought-provoking while others can be well... kind of stupid. Creating new elements is already something the human race has succeeded … Continue reading Top 10 Imaginary Elements

How to Destroy the Universe and 34 other really interesting uses of Physics by Paul Parsons. How to Destroy the Universe is a part of a series of books of a similar name, each of which emphasizes the various usages of science in our everyday and not-so-everyday life. This book series includes titles such as … Continue reading How to Destroy the Universe and 34 other really interesting uses of Physics

Michael Bay is not particularly known within the scientific community as someone who cares about accurate representations of scientific principles (e.g. Armageddon… All of it). Nonetheless his 1996 release, The Rock, is one of my favorite action films and probably his best ever film release in terms of quality movie-making. Without spoiling too much of … Continue reading Biochemistry of Michael Bay‘s “The Rock”

Right off the bat, I love The Matrix. It’s one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies (along with The Animatrix… the sequels suck) and was one of the first films that got me into the genre of sci-fi and still feels very nostalgic to me (I saw it on video when I was twelve). On … Continue reading „Dodge this“ …. Okay!

Over a year prior to finishing my PhD I have been hunting for postdoc positions in the field of astrochemistry. I have written a bunch of grant applications (including Marie Curie fellowhsips and VENIs) and gotten a whole lot of disheartening rejections. Recently I came across a pretty good quote that was supposedly by former … Continue reading Next stop: SOLEIL

The short answer: Chemistry in space. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? A completely unbiased answer would be: “Yes”. But in all seriousness, for me personally, this is indeed the case. In my view, astrochemistry abides by the abstract. Weird chemistry. Chemistry that, to the novice, makes absolutely no sense. In a sense it constitutes a “chemical objet … Continue reading What is astrochemistry?

Mathematical Curiosities by Alfred S. Posamentier & Ingmar Lehmann I promise not to tell a lie. I found this book a bit frustrating to read. The frustration stems from the fact that half of the time I was mesmerized by the mathematical curiosities promised by the title while the other half of the time I … Continue reading Mathematical Curiosities: A Treasure Trove of Unexpected Entertainments